The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a large cross-border narco-hawala network operating across Mizoram, Manipur and other northeastern states, freezing 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attaching properties worth Rs 17.82 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The coordinated operation, carried out on October 23 in association with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Mizoram Police, targeted multiple locations in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram, and Churachandpur in Manipur. The searches stemmed from three money-laundering cases linked to the trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar and the laundering of drug proceeds through hawala channels.
According to the ED, the latest action has taken the total value of assets secured in the investigation to more than ₹26 crore, including ₹8.19 crore in assets frozen earlier. Six accused have been arrested under Section 19 of the PMLA, while proceedings are underway to arrest four more individuals currently lodged in judicial custody in separate narcotics cases.
The investigation, based on FIRs registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, has revealed what the ED described as a single interconnected narco-hawala ecosystem spanning Mizoram, Manipur, Assam and Tripura. Investigators found that drug proceeds generated across the Northeast were routed through a network of bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai before being settled with suppliers based in Myanmar.
The agency said the porous 1,643-km India-Myanmar border has become a major corridor for narcotics originating in the Golden Triangle. Heroin and methamphetamine tablets smuggled into Mizoram and Manipur are distributed across the Northeast and onward to other parts of India and Bangladesh, while the proceeds are channelled back through hawala operators in border towns.
The ED also uncovered an alleged supply chain of precursor chemicals from India to Myanmar. Investigators found that M/s Krishiv Enterprises dispatched nearly 32 tonnes of Caffeine Anhydrous and 10 tonnes of Aluminium Chloride Anhydrous during 2024 to small pharmacies and retail establishments in Mizoram that allegedly acted as front entities before the chemicals were smuggled across the border for manufacturing methamphetamine tablets.
The probe further revealed that Myanmar-based traffickers allegedly used local carriers to move narcotics concealed in soap cases, taxis, motorcycles and truck convoys through the Champhai-Zokhawthar corridor, with payments routed through the same hawala network.
In Manipur's Churachandpur district, investigators alleged that cash generated from drug sales was collected by syndicate members and channelled into the banking system through Mini-ATM and Customer Service Point (CSP) operators. One such counter, M/s Go Alpha Trip, allegedly processed 2,947 transactions worth ₹175.03 crore between 2024 and June 2026 to beneficiary accounts in Mizoram.
According to the ED, account holders admitted to renting out their bank accounts to suspected narco-hawala operators for commissions of ₹500 per lakh. The investigation found that many accounts showed large-value transfers with negligible cash withdrawals and no legitimate commercial activity. In one instance, the account of a homemaker in Champhai reportedly received ₹15.48 crore despite the family's monthly income being only about ₹27,000.
The agency also alleged that the laundered funds were eventually routed to unlicensed Rupee-Kyat exchangers in Champhai and invested in real estate and commercial ventures, including the construction of Hotel JTS, a five-storey commercial building allegedly financed through hawala proceeds.
Searches led to the seizure of cash ledgers, cheque books, debit cards, mobile phones and digital devices used to operate the alleged laundering network. The ED said documentary evidence and transaction records established direct links between cash collected from drug sales in Manipur and hawala accounts used to finance trafficking operations in Mizoram.
The six arrested include Kashyap G. Thakkar, Thangkhuala and T. Chatuan Vanlalgakha from Mizoram, and Zenngaihniang alias Taniang, Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi and H. Gouzalal from Churachandpur, Manipur. Taniang and Tuanpi, who were already in judicial custody in NDPS cases, were formally arrested with the permission of the Special Judge, NDPS Court, Churachandpur.
The arrested persons are being produced before the jurisdictional Special Courts under the PMLA, while the investigation into the interstate and cross-border narco-financing network is continuing.